


Habits of the Heart

by skimmillk



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura ily, Allura loves Lance, Almost Kiss, Angst, Attempt at Humor, First Dates, Humor, I love them all, Keith is with the BOM, Kosmo is the best boy, Lance works on a farm, Lance’s family is amazing, Lance’s family loves Keith, Langst, M/M, Moving On, Multiple chapters so strap in boys, Mutual Pining, OC, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Post S8, Post-Canon, Rachel is literally a wingman, Romance, Slow Burn, You may call it a fix-it fic, and so does Lance, except Lance is kinda in denial :p, feelings are hard, i call it canon, klance, more tags as i write, she’s the biggest Klance shipper y’all could never, there are kinda ocs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-22 17:03:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17063639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skimmillk/pseuds/skimmillk
Summary: It had been five years since the war ended.Five years since the nightmare ended. Five years since peace had spread throughout the universe for the first time in over ten thousand years.Five years since Allura died.Keith drops by for an unexpected visit at Lance’s family farm, ready to help Lance pick up the pieces and to finally heal.To finally move on.(i.e. what actually happened after S8)





	1. Chapter 1

It had been five years since the war ended.

Five years since the nightmare ended. Five years since peace had spread throughout the universe for the first time in over ten thousand years.

Five years since Allura died.

One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days, to be exact.

They’d all grieved in their own way, finding their own solstice in the knowledge that Allura would be proud of what they’d decided to do with their lives.

Shiro got married and finally got the break he deserved. Pidge and her family continued to work with the Garrison to ensure the next generation of pilots would be just as great as their predecessors, if not more. Hunk got to take his cooking with him across the universe, creating a culinary empire and enjoying the thrill it brought him without the stress of the Galra attacking. Keith stayed with the Blade of Marmora, turning down the opportunity to become Emperor in favor of traveling the universe to provide humanitarian services to the people who needed him.

And Lance?

Lance was having a little more trouble moving on.

He had loved Allura, and Allura had loved him. She was ripped from him too soon, and he missed her every day. 

The war had drained him. After years of watching people die in the cause for intergalactic peace, Lance needed a break. So, he decided to lead a simple life, leaving the stress of piloting behind him. And he was happy with this life. He was surrounded by his family, always kept busy by the life on a quaint little farm, the field of juniberries and the blue markings on his face being a constant reminder that Allura was there with him, watching over him, and smiling down at him in her place among the cosmos. 

But five years had passed now, and Lance still couldn’t move on completely.

It felt like a part of him was missing, that there was something reaching for him, and when he reached up to grab it, it was just inches out of reach. It was lonely, he wouldn’t lie.

Lance loved love. Lance loved Allura. But one of those things were impossible to have.

It was torture, wanting to be happy when he couldn’t be happy. He yearned for her to be by his side every day, and he’d give anything for her to be there, he’d sacrifice himself in an instant if that meant she got to live. 

But she was gone, he knew that. Nothing he could do or say would ever change that, or would ever bring her back.

Even his family pleaded with him to move on, but Lance just couldn’t. And he couldn’t explain why, either. He knew what he wanted, but not what he needed. And honestly, figuring it out was too scary for Lance to do.

He knew deep down that Allura would want him to be happy, for him to move on without her and to enjoy the rest of his life, but he’d be lying if the simple idea of that didn’t bring him guilt. 

But the busy work on their farm helped to keep his mind off of everything going on in his head, the swirling thoughts, the regret and guilt, the longing for companionship and the hole in his heart waiting to be filled, but by who, he wasn’t sure.

“Sylvio, Nadia!” Lance called out one particularly sunny morning, the blinding sunshine reflecting off of the pink petals in the field just right, his family moving around him as they collected things for the day. “Breakfast is ready!”

The pattering of feet approaching down the corridor was enough of a signal to Lance that he had been heard, moving away from the kitchen counter while he let Luis and Lisa take care of their children’s meals, Lance grabbing the pail of chicken feed and stepping out of the house to head towards the chicken coops. 

Lance could hear their clucking from his porch, closing his eyes and pausing for a moment as he took a deep breath in.

The fresh morning air in the early summer wafted the scent of fruit and dew into his nose, a soft smile forming on his lips as he let the sunshine hit his skin and the breeze drift through his hair, which he had let grow a little longer since the war had ended, but nothing too crazy. 

He skipped down the steps and headed towards the coop, the grazed grass from the cattle, hay scattered about, crunching under his boots. It was a peaceful walk, every morning like this, that made Lance realize how much he preferred this simple life, how life was better without the constant threat of death and dangerous adventure that the day to day life of war had conditioned him to.

He’d be lying if he said some part of him, deep, deep down, didn’t miss it.

Lance reached the coop and opened the gate to step inside, the chickens poking their little bird heads out of their open cage to investigate the smell of the feed that Lance was sure they should’ve been used to by now, each chicken filing out one by one to get their share. 

“Woah, okay guys, there is more than enough to go around,” Lance chuckled as the chickens ate away, giving a small shake of his head before he moved to collect the eggs from their pen. 

He counted each egg as he placed it into the now empty bucket, whistling. 

“Wow, twenty in one night. I think that might be a new record,” Lance noted with a grin, before he heard something odd from outside of the coop, and the chickens came rushing back into the pen, feathers ruffled and all clearly flustered and irritated, but Lance couldn’t for the life of him figure out why. 

That was, until he stepped out of the pen to investigate, and saw a ship landing right in the middle of the grassy plain of their yard, the wind greatly increasing from the ship’s propellers, and Lance verbally groaned as he stomped out of the coop and towards the ship with his hands placed firmly on his hips. 

Lance had _told_ Keith not to do this before, not to disrupt the animals, because then they’d be scared for days and Lance would have to be extra careful around them or he’d get trampled.

“Keith, what did I tell you about landing your stupid pods right on our—“ 

Lance’s eyes widened as soon as Keith jumped from the pod, blinking at the sight before him.

“—yard.”

“Hey, Lance.”

Lance was aware enough to not drop the bucket and crack the fragile eggs inside, frantically placing it down onto the grass before starting his fast paced trek up towards Keith on the elevated land, stopping just a few feet in front of him to stare at the man before him, squinting just a bit. 

“Oh, what did you do _now_?” Lance asked as an exasperated sigh escaped his lungs, making a wild gesture towards the bandaged midriff on Keith’s build.

“Nothing too major,” Keith shrugged, that shit-eating grin tugging at the corners of his mouth that almost made Lance not feel sorry for the guy.

Almost.

“You are actually impossible,” Lance sighed with a disapproving shake of his head. “The war has been over for five years now, how can you _still_ not stay out of trouble?”

“Do I even have to answer that?”

Lance groaned, because no, no he didn’t. Keith was still the same reckless teenager that he was when they’d been in space, probably even more so now that he was an adult. Lance just wished he’d take better care of himself, because this stress could not be good for his skin.

“It’s good to see you again, Lance.”

There was a tranquility that rushed over Lance then, unable to fight the smile growing on his features as he looked up at Keith. 

“Yeah, it’s good to see you too.”

It was rare for Lance to see any of his former teammates, aside from on the anniversary of Allura’s death, when they’d all meet on Altea to honor her sacrifice. They were all busy doing their own thing, whether that be important universe-defending stuff, or just enjoying a simple life away from the battle, so no one really had time to visit Lance’s little farm.

Everyone except for Keith, apparently. 

It was hard to explain what exactly motivated the Galran to keep coming back, but it was sure fun to ponder it. He was visit uninvited most of the time, landing that damn pod right in the middle of the field just to piss Lance off, and waltzing into Lance’s house like he owned the place.

Lance’s family enjoyed having him around, so it wasn’t a problem at all (minus the ship thing, which got Lance’s gears grinding like nothing else), and while Lance wouldn’t admit it, he enjoyed having Keith around as well. Hell, Keith showed up once after Sylvio and Nadia invited him to their cows’ wedding, which they insisted on planning and throwing and, since they were still children (younger at the time), Lance was happy to allow it, and even help in some ways. Having Keith there made Kaltenecker and Santos’s wedding a lot more interesting, he’d have to admit.

“C’mon, let’s go inside, I’m sure everyone will be happy to see you,” Lance sighed, with a smile this time, walking side by side with a bandaged Keith into the small little house on the big plot of land. “And you’re going to tell me how you managed to get hurt _again_.”

“Oh come on,” Keith groaned, laughing with a curt roll of his eyes. “Can’t I get out of it?”

“Nope, you’re on _my_ farm, so you have to follow _my_ rules.”

“Yes sir,” Keith conceded with a dejected chuckle, even giving a formal salute that made Lance roll his eyes.

“Is that Keith?” A voice called out, causing both men to look up towards the house, where Sylvio and Nadia were perched with wonder-filled eyes.

Lance couldn’t help but crack a toothy smile as the two children sprinted from the porch up to Keith, tackling him into a hug, Lance covering a snicker with his hand as the man fell backwards from the force of their embrace.

“Ow,” Keith winced, but Lance couldn’t be too concerned when there was a laugh added on to the end. 

“You know, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that they’re happy to see you.”

“No,” Keith gasped, ruffling each child’s hair as he gazed down at them. “I would’ve never guessed.”

Lance laughed and shook his head, his eyes falling back onto the house as he heard the door creak open, watching as Luis and Lisa stepped out, smiling upon seeing the scene their children had caused.

“Alright, I think it’s time to let Keith get up now,” Lance said, and despite a groan and whine from his niece and nephew, the two got up to run back to their parents, happily exclaiming how Uncle Keith has come to visit again, as if they couldn’t see it with their own eyes. 

Lance looked back down at Keith when he heard the man grunt, offering a crooked smile while squatting down to meet his eye level from the ground as he slowly sat up.

“Are you okay?” He asked, and despite the amusement in his voice, the question was sincere. 

“How could I not be?” Keith responded, looking to Lance with a fond expression. “You always find a way to cheer me up.”

The compliment was unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome, Lance taking on a proud smile.

“Ah, well, it’s no big deal. Making people happy is kinda my thing,” Lance explained with a matter-of-fact tone, shrugging his shoulders. “You can thank me later.”

“And you ruined it.”

Lance shot a glare at Keith before the two broke out into laughter, Lance shaking his head as he rose to his feet, extending a hand out to Keith with a smile.

“Come on, big guy. Let’s get you inside.”

Keith rolled his eyes and snorted as he slapped his hand into Lance’s, the shorter male pulling him up and patting his back for a moment before they began their journey to the house again.

Keith and Lance had changed over the past five years. 

Lance had let his hair grow out a bit, the chocolate strands tickling the nape of his neck and his bangs came down a little further down his forehead now, and the laborious work on the farm had made his muscles a little more defined than they were when the war ended, but he was still the same old lanky guy that he’d always been.

Keith on the other hand?

Keith had changed a lot.

Apparently Galrans just… didn’t stop growing. So, now, five years later, Keith went from being the same height as Lance, to having a clear advantage on him, and Lance had definitely been pissed at first. Keith had kept his hair long, choosing to keep it in a low ponytail most of the time, but Lance had had the privilege of seeing it down before, and it was definitely a sight to behold. It looked like a lion's mane, large and frizzy, if Lance had to compare it to anything, but that might’ve just been because Keith had just woken up and Lance had gone into the room to wake him up, since it was nearly the afternoon and the kids were starting to think that he might’ve died in his sleep. His shoulders had gotten broader, and his muscles had gotten much more defined, Lance able to see the outline of abs behind the bandages around his abdomen. The scar on his cheek was still there, becoming a signature feature on him, much like Lance’s markings right on his cheekbones.

The ones Allura had given him.

The smell of the breakfast that had just been made before Lance walked out had wafted into his nose again as he entered the house with Keith, the old floorboards creaking underneath their shoes. There was a half eaten plate on the table, Lance assuming it belonged to Sylvio as the young boy climbed back into the seat to finish what he had left. 

“Well if it isn’t the allusive Keith Kogane,” Carmen exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen, reaching up to pinch Keith’s scarred cheek before doing the same with Lance’s, pinching the cheek on the opposite side of his face. “It’s been so long since you’ve visited, I was starting to think you’d forgotten about us.”

“Mama, please,” Lance laughed sheepishly, but Keith smiled, greeting Lance’s mother happily.

“Hello, Mrs. McClain. It’s good to see you again.”

“Please, I’ve told you, Carmen is fine,” she insisted with a laugh, waving her hands after releasing both of their cheeks, Lance rubbing at his while Keith kept up the conversation with his mother. “We’ve missed seeing your face around the face.”

“And I’ve missed this place too,” Keith hummed, Lance looking up at him with a soft smile. “You all know how to get my mind off of things.”

“I do have to ask, though,” Carmen said, pointing to the bandages wrapped around Keith’s abs. “What happened there?”

“Well,” Keith started, breathing out a chuckle. “It’s kinda a long story—“

“Which, I’d love to hear, and I’m _going_ to, but I just realized that I might’ve left all of the eggs unattended outside,” Lance interjected, laughing with an embarrassing color of red on his cheeks. “So, I’m gonna go get those, be right back!”

Lance pushed open the door to quickly climb down the steps, looking up when he heard a clanking noise in the distance. 

“Oh you have got to be kidding me,” Lance groaned, tilting his head up to the sky for a moment. “Allura, I’m going crazy,” he sighed, smiling softly for a moment before paying attention to the task at hand. 

Kosmo was currently chomping down on the eggs that Lance had set down.

“No, bad space wolf! Bad!” Lance scolded as he stomped further into the field, his brows furrowed and his finger pointed sternly as he stood his ground in front of the creature, who at first growled and bared his teeth at Lance, before he actually realized who it was, and proceeded to attack him with kisses. “No, I’m trying to be mad at you, Kosmo!” Lance whined, trying to hold back his laughter as Kosmo’s tongue dragged all over his face in happy kisses. “Stop it!”

At this point, Keith had walked out of the house upon the commotion, cracking a smile.

“He missed you,” Keith called out, and Lance shot Keith a glare that said ‘lend me a hand over here or you’ll have much more than a wound on your chest to worry about’.

So, Keith waltzed on over, helping Lance get the excited space wolf a little less excited.

“He’s too big to be doing that,” Lance sighed with a laugh, rubbing the slobber from his face with the sleeve of his jacket. “And there is _no way_ he is sleeping inside the house.”

“Oh, c’mon!” Keith whined, cupping Kosmo’s face and pouting. “Are you really gonna make him sleep outside?”

Lance wasn’t fazed by the puppy dog eyes, folding his arms across his chest with a flat expression.

“Yes, I am. There’s no why he’s fitting inside the doorway.”

“He can teleport.”

“Look how big he is!” Lance retorted, wildly gesturing towards Kosmo, who was easily bigger than both of them. “He will destroy everything!”

“You are heartless, Lance.”

“Yeah, and I also enjoy having my house in one piece.” 

Keith opened his mouth to argue back, before he realized he had nothing to say, crossing his arms to mimic Lance and breathing out a sigh. 

“That’s what I thought,” Lance hummed with a smirk, squinting his eyes for a moment before turning back to Kosmo, sighing and letting his arms fall. “I missed you too, buddy.”

Kosmo gave the wolf equivalent of a smile and laid another slobbery kiss on Lance’s cheek, Lance groaning but petting his head anyway. 

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Lance laughed, leaning down to pick the now empty bucket up from the ground, shaking his head.

“Yeah, I am pretty cute.”

Lance looked up at Keith quickly and squawked, shoving his arm. 

“I could not have been more obvious that I was talking to Kosmo.”

Keith laughed at that, and if Lance didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought that the heat on his face was blush. 

“What, are you saying I’m not cute?” Keith asked playfully, keeping his arms crossed with a cock of his head as Lance scrambled to find a suitable response.

“Wha— I, I don’t— you—“ he stammered, looking everywhere except Keith, his cheeks undeniably red now, even if he tried to pretend like they weren’t. “I hate you.”

Keith burst out into laughter again, rolling his eyes. 

“Lance McClain, I cannot believe this blasphemy, and here I thought we were friends.”

Lance snickered, shrugging his shoulders as he started to walk back into the house, bucket in hand.

“Whoops,” he giggled, looking back at Keith to grin. “My bad.”

“You sound sincere,” Keith chuckled as he followed behind, laughing about it until they reached the house again. 

“You know it.”

By the time the sun had set Keith had said hello to everyone, exchanging pleasantries and hugs and catching up on everyone’s lives since Keith had last visited, even all sitting down together as a family, with Keith seated right next to Lance. It was a relatively pleasant night, the temperature dropping to create a comfortable coolness in the air, which was a lot more bearable than the sticky humidity that had stayed for several days before Keith showed up.

Lance just figured that Keith was a good omen.

So, when Keith asked Lance to take a walk with him, he agreed, only after forcing Keith to put a shirt on, the two taking a nice stroll around the perimeter of the farm, while Luis and Rachel tended to the animals for the night in Lance’s place.

“You know,” Lance hummed, keeping his hands cupped behind him comfortably as they walked. “You never did tell me how you got that wound.”

“Dammit,” Keith laughed, his hands shoved in his pockets. “I thought you had forgotten about that.”

“Well, when you just stroll up to my house outta nowhere with a bunch of bandages on, it’s kinda hard to forget.”

“Fair enough,” Keith shrugged, sighing softly. “It was really no big deal. The Blade went to go help this planet out in the Nexium star system with food and other supplies, and they mistook us for hostile soldiers and shot. One blast happened to hit me, but it was just a graze. I was given some time off though, and I decided I’d stay here for a bit,” Keith explained, Lance looking up towards him the entire time.

“You’re lucky it wasn’t anything serious,” Lance sighed, but there was relief in the statement. “We’d really… we’d really miss you, you know. If anything did happen.”

_I’d really miss you._

The thought came out of nowhere and had Lance perking up, his heart nearly stopping at the surprise of it.

What?

“I know,” Keith nodded, turning his head to look down at Lance. “I’d miss you all too.”

Lance smiled crookedly, turning his head to look up at the stars, and Keith followed suit, the two content with just walking in silence for a while, the warm summer breeze drifting through their hair and the sounds of crickets surrounding them from all sides. It wasn’t long until the flickering little lights of fireflies danced around them, being carried by the wind and by their own ambitions to explore the swaying willows and oaks that protected Lance’s little farm from the rest of the world. 

“How have you been holding up?”

The question had Lance looking up at Keith again, a soft sigh leaving his lips. His eyes flicked away from Keith before the man had a chance to return the eye contact, focusing on the shimmering bugs around them instead. 

“Every day gets a little easier.”

“She’d be proud of you.”

Once again, Keith’s words had Lance looking up, Keith meeting his gaze this time with a gentle smile, and before Lance could even respond, he felt something warm trailing down his cheek.

A tear. 

It started off as one, and quickly turned into several, and Lance was having trouble wiping them all away with his sleeve before Keith could notice.

“Lance—“ Keith said quickly, but Lance shook his head before the other could continue.

“No, I’m sorry. I’ve been getting better, I promise—“

“Lance,” Keith said again, placing a hand on Lance’s shoulder to keep him from walking before grabbing the other to turn the shorter male around to face him. “You don’t ever have to apologize to me. It’s okay to not be okay, you know?” 

The hands on Lance’s shoulders moved to cup his cheeks, keeping Lance’s gaze on Keith as he sighed softly.

“Comere,” Keith soothed, placing a hand on the back of Lance’s head, resting the boy’s head against Keith’s chest, while his other hand fell to the small of Lance’s back, gently massaging in small circles.

Lance slowly wrapped his arms around Keith, holding him loosely, not wanting to overstep his boundaries.

“I miss her, Keith,” Lance breathed out, sniffling softly, and Keith frowned.

“That’s to be expected,” he nodded, petting Lance’s head in tiny ministrations. “But you’re allowed to be happy. You’re allowed to move on. That’s what she’d want. I know you’re still healing, and it’ll take some time, but I can assure you, there’s someone willing to wait as long as you need.” 

Lance smiled and held onto Keith a little tighter, a small laugh even slipping out. 

“Since when have you been so good at comforting people?”

“Hey, I’ve had a great teacher.”

Lance tilted his head up and, to his surprise, Keith was already looking down at him, a smile on his face. 

There was a silence that fell between them, and it was comfortable and soothing, and Lance couldn’t help the gaze that slipped down to Keith’s lips, if only for a moment. Lance could catch a quick flicker of Keith’s eyes as well, and he couldn’t quite estimate how long this mantra had gone on for before he noticed Keith leaning down a bit, eyes completely trained on his lips now, and it was like Lance’s body was moving on its own. 

It was tantalizing, Lance hairs standing up on end as they drew closer and closer, the gap between them steadily decreasing until their faces were just a little ways away, and then—

“Uncle Lance!”

By the time Sylvio and Nadia reached them, Lance and Keith were a good ten feet apart, staring intensely in opposite directions with beet red faces, Lance hearing his heart pounding in his ears louder than he heard his nephew speaking.

“Kosmo teleported into the house and is in your bed!”

That definitely caught Lance’s attention.

“He’s _what_?” Lance practically screeched, quickly starting back off towards the house, Sylvio following behind with an excited laugh.

Keith sighed happily, watching as Lance retreated back into his home and hearing the muffled scolding of his wolf, until Nadia, who had stuck around when Sylvio hadn’t, asked him a question.

“Do you like Uncle Lance?” 

Keith softened at the question, if it was at all possible to get any softer than he already was, giving a small nod.

“I do.”

Nadia gave an excited giggle before she ran back into the house to find her brother, or at least that’s what Keith assumed she did, but again, Keith lingered a little longer, gazing up towards the sky. 

“I promise I’ll make him happy, Allura.” 

The way the stars twinkled for him seemed like a good enough answer to Keith, a grin on his face as he finally took a step forward and trotted towards Lance’s home.

And, for the first time in a while, Lance was thinking about something other than Allura when he was laying awake in bed that night, head up towards the ceiling before he rolled over onto his side, giving a soft, tired grunt as he threw his legs over the side of the mattress and slowly made his way to the bedroom window, resting his arms out on the ledge. His eyes went up towards the stars, the sky blinking beautifully with white speckles and flares, and he knew that Allura was looking down at him now from the cosmos by the way they twinkled.

“Oh, Allura,” Lance sighed, resting his cheek against his open palm. “What am I going to do?”

And, as if Allura had answered him, another thought whispered itself into Lance’s ear.

_It’s time to move on._

But that would turn out to be easier said than done.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a peaceful calm that washed over the farm as the sun rose over the horizon, golden light seeping onto the grass, twinkling with dew, acting as a natural alarm clock to the various animals in the confines of their coops and cages, the screeching of the rooster echoing over the fields.

And normally, that’s what Lance woke up to as well. But today, it was to something wet.

Something breathing.

Lance groaned and squeezed his eyes shut even tighter before he let them blink open, and when they adjusted to the light, Lance was met with a pair of beady eyes staring down at him.

And Lance screamed.

It was at that point that Keith burst into the room, his sword in hand and frantic looking as he rushed to see what had gotten Lance to shriek, but stopped as soon as he did. 

“I thought I said he was sleeping _outside_!” Lance yelled, trying to escape the wet kisses from the wolf that was currently trapping him in his bed, Keith doing nothing but laughing and watching from the doorway, letting his sword retract back into its knife form in his hand. “Don’t laugh!” Lance scolded. “Do something!”

“Alright, Kosmo,” Keith snickered, the wolf turning his head towards Keith once his name was called. “Time to go back outside.” 

The wolf gave a whimper in protest, but did disappear in a flash of blinding light, and Lance was able to sit up again.

“Your wolf nearly gave me a heart attack,” Lance spat, leaning back on his hands with puffed out cheeks.

“He’s good for that,” Keith shrugged, smiling as he leaned against the doorway. “Maybe stop being so likeable and he’d leave you alone.”

Lance scoffed, moving to sit over the edge of that bed while shaking his head. “Keith, I’m sorry, but that’s impossible. That’s like asking me to stop breathing.”

Keith gave a soft chuckle at that, raising his brows and letting his head cock to the side. “Then you’re just gonna have to deal with it.”

“Do you wanna be out on the porch next too?”

“Not particularly, no.”

“That’s what I thought,” Lance nodded with a smirk as he stood up from his bed, stretching his arms up in the air to coax the sleep from his muscles. 

Lance could hear the footsteps and light chatter of his family from around the house, and he just hoped that his scream hadn’t woken anyone else but Keith, otherwise he’d just feel bad. But, then again, anyone in their right mind would scream in a situation like that, so at the same time, Lance felt zero remorse. 

When Lance left his room, Keith moving away from the doorframe to follow just a little behind Lance, he could hear Sylvio and Nadia outside playing and laughing with Kosmo, while his mother was awake and preparing breakfast for the family, the sound of bacon popping on the stove making Lance’s nerves buzz with excitement and if his nose could sing, it would’ve.

“Good morning, Mama,” Lance hummed, walking over to plant a quick peck to the woman’s cheek, which was mandatory. 

“Good morning, Lance,” Carmen replied, smiling at her son before looking towards Keith, who was currently leaning against the counter and watching this exchange go down. “Keith.”

“Morning M—“ a glare from Lance’s mother made Keith quickly start over. “—Carmen.”

Lance couldn’t help but laugh at that, shoving Keith’s shoulder as he walked past, planning to get changed an feed the animals, as he did every morning, before he’d sit down to eat anything.

“Don’t kill him while I’m gone, Mama. He’s feeding the animals with me,” Lance laughed with a finger pointed to his mother, and Carmen shrugged her shoulders.

“No promises.”

Lance smiled and retreated back into his room, changing into clothes he didn’t mind getting a little dirty, because, no matter how careful Lance was, he always ended up with at least a little filth on him after his daily routine around the farm. He, of course, didn’t warn Keith about this fact because this certainly wasn’t his first time here and if he wore clothes he cared about then it was his own damn fault, smiling as he walked back out into the kitchen, once again shoving Keith’s arm as he passed.

“Would you stop doing that?” Keith asked with a small crack in his voice, shaking his head as he followed Lance out of the house after the shorter boy grabbed a bucket by the door.

“Hm, let me think,” Lance hummed, swinging the pail by his side. “Nope.”

Keith groaned while Lance whistled innocently, leading Keith towards the pig pen first, where Lance may or may not have flicked a bit of the slop at him, just for funsies. 

“Great, every time you land that stupid ship out there you terrify all of the chickens,” Lance complained, shoving Keith’s shoulder once more as a punishment before he went into the coop to collect the eggs, mumbling rants about Keith and the ship and Kosmo while he handed them to Keith, who placed them in the bucket with a smile.

“Well where else am I gonna land the ship? There’s not exactly a hangar out here.”

“That seems like something for you to figure out, Keith,” Lance grumbled before backing out of the coop, brushing some of the hay from the nests off of his sleeves before continuing to the cows’ fence, but they had been let out to graze already, so Lance walked into the small stable where a large cow remained sat on the ground, kneeling in front of it and gently rubbing over her swollen stomach.

“No way,” Keith breathed out, kneeling down next to Lance. “Is she—“

“Yup,” Lance nodded, turning to look up at Keith with a smile. “Good ol’ Kaltenecker is eating for two.”

Keith whistled and, with a quick glance at Lance as a silent form of permission, reached down to gently brush over her stomach with his fingers, earning a loud moo from the creature, which Lance interrupted as a happy greeting to Keith. After all, the last time Keith visited, Kaltenecker hadn’t been pregnant, so she must’ve been happy to see him.

Lance was pretty happy to see him too.

“Wow,” Keith grinned, looking over at Lance again. “How long until she’s due?”

“Any day now, really. The vet said a week at most,” Lance hummed, turning his head to meet Keith’s gaze with a smile. Then, the events of the night previous popped into his head, and he quickly looked away, willing the blush away from his cheeks before Keith could notice. 

That was real, right? Keith had almost—

“Santos is one lucky cow,” Keith laughed, immediately ripping Lance away from his nervous pondering and causing a smile to return to his expression.

“Yeah,” Lance nodded, breathing out a soft chuckle. “I remember when you caught the bouquet at their wedding.”

“Oh my god,” Keith snorted, letting his head hang as he laughed. “I remember that. I only caught them because Sylvio practically pelted me with them.”

“And you sliced your hand open on one of the thorns, since they chose roses for some reason, and you made me take care of you all day,” Lance continued, giggling at the memories that came to him so vividly.

“Hey, I gave you the roses as consolation,” Keith said, snickering. “So you’re welcome.”

“Oh yeah, thanks,” Lance laughed, rolling his eyes. “Bloody roses. My favorite.”

“I knew it.”

Lance laughed again, looking away with a bright grin. 

“I can’t believe that post-war Keith is such a dork,” Lance cackled, turning his head to flash Keith that bright grin that he couldn’t seem to wipe away even if he tried.

“What can I say, not having to worry about death every single day really gives your psyche a boost.” Lance shot Keith a deadpan expression while glancing down at his abdomen, and Keith snickered. “Almost every day.”

“You know, I really do think it’s time for you to retire.”

“Oh come on, not this again,” Keith groaned, flopping back to lean against his hands while his head tilted up towards the ceiling of the small wooden shack they were sitting in. “I’ve still got time. I’m twenty-five and still in my prime.”

“Yeah, that’s why you should retire,” Lance rebutted, turning his body a bit to give Keith more of his attention. This was kind of an important topic to him. “In your own words, you’re still in your prime, so wouldn’t it be smart to, oh, I don’t know, enjoy it?”

“But I do enjoy it.”

“I know that, Keith, but I mean to enjoy it in a way that doesn’t involve you getting injured by a laser blaster,” Lance sighed. “We’re not as young as we were before, and we don’t have any Altean healing pods like we used to, and Allura’s not here to save you if you ever—“ Lance cut himself off there, biting his lip and closing his eyes, before letting out a frustrated sigh.

“Lance—“

“No, no, it’s fine, I get it,” Lance interjected, turning his head away. “You wanna keep risking your life, fine, be my guest.”

“Lance—“

“You know, you really deserve a break more than anyone, right? I mean, how many years of service are you planning to put in before you—“

“Lance,” Keith practically pleaded at this point, finally catching Lance’s attention with an amused sigh. “I’ll think about it.”

That was good enough for Lance. Enough to get him squealing and, before he even thought it through, leaping forward to tackle Keith into a hug, laughing happily as they hit the ground.

“Woah, okay,” Keith laughed, letting his arms loop around Lance’s waist as Lance kept his arms around the back of his neck. “I guess you’re happy.”

“Shut up,” Lance hummed, his voice content as he lifted his head up to gaze down at Keith with a smile.

Keith was smiling right back, arms wrapped around Lance’s waist, hands resting on the small of his back while Lance lay on his chest, and neither of them really noticed or cared how strange that position would look to same. Specifically Rachel, who had stumbled onto the scene when going to let out the horses, standing in the doorway when he cleared her throat.

“Um, am I interrupting something here?”

Lance didn’t think he’d ever slide away from someone faster in his life.

Why did this keep happening?

“Rachel!” Lance gasped, ignoring the color on his cheeks as he puffed them out. “Nope! There’s nothing going on, nothing at all!” He quickly stammered, clearing his throat. “I was just celebrating Keith’s retirement.”

“Oh, wow,” Rachel hummed, looking down at Keith with raised brows. “Congratulations.”

“Woah woah, wait, it is _not_ official yet,” Keith backtracked, but Lance shook his head. 

“It’s pretty much official.”

“It is very much not.” 

“Whatever you say, I know the truth.”

Keith snorted and sat up from the ground again, giving Kaltenecker’s stomach one more gentle pat before he heaved himself up onto his feet, Lance doing the same, and then the chores went on as normal, as Lance had intended them to.

That whole staring into each other’s eyes thing had been an unforeseen mishap.

Yeah, that’s it. 

Totally.

“So, Keith,” Carmen hummed as they sat around the dinner table that evening, the golden and violet light from the setting sun in the sky seeping in through the open windows. “How’s the Blade?”

“They’re well,” Keith nodded, smiling. “Some planets are a little more hostile than others, but it’s generally safe. A lot safer than it was before, at least.” Keith snuck a playful smirk at Lance, laughing before he continued. “But, Lance seems to really want me to retire.”

“Oh, does he now?” 

“Can you blame me?” Lance asked with a exasperated laugh. “I’ve been asking him to retire for years! We’ve done more than enough for the universe at this point. Isn’t it time to move on? To settle down? You’ve got your whole life ahead of you, don’t spend all of it in space,” Lance explained, looking up at Keith. “You’ve got people waiting for you.” That last part was mumbled, more for himself than anyone else, but Keith heard it, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Seems like you’ve been harboring that one for a while, Lance,” Marco snickered, causing Lance to roll his eyes, and he would’ve flipped his brother off if his mother wasn’t right there. He was twenty-three, it would just be embarrassing if his mother threw her shoe at an adult.

“It’s cause Keith is stubborn and refuses to listen to me,” Lance shrugged, scrunching his nose as he stared up at Keith. “Even though I’m _right_.”

“I will give you that one,” Keith laughed. “I’m pretty stubborn.”

“Tell me about it,” Lance groaned, earning laughter around the table. “I’ve known you for quite some time now, unfortunately.”

There was more laughter as Keith gasped dramatically, even Lance laughed a bit, shaking his head.

It was Lance’s turn to take care of the animals that night, and even though Keith had offered to help, Lance assured that he could do it on his own, Keith opting to sit on the porch stroking Kosmo’s back while Lance visited each cage.

“Hey, sorry for interrupting… whatever you two were doing earlier,” Rachel apologized as she walked out onto the porch, taking a seat on the steps next to Keith.

“It’s fine,” Keith said, keeping his eyes on Lance while he spoke. “It was fun watching Lance get all embarrassed.”

Rachel and Keith both laughed at that, a comfortable silence falling between them for a moment before Rachel spoke up again.

“So, a little birdie told me that you like my brother.”

Keith sighed, smiling as a chuckle escaped his throat. “Nadia told you?”

“Couldn’t keep her mouth shut,” Rachel nodded, looking towards Keith, who finally looked back at her as well. “Does that mean it’s true?”

Keith cracked a fond smile, looking back towards Lance, and Rachel didn’t even need him to answer. “It is.”

“I thought so. You’re not exactly good at hiding it, but then again, my brother isn’t as good with romance as he acts like he is.”

“Believe me, I know.”

Rachel laughed, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Just… take care of him, okay? We’ve all been worried about him since Allura passed, but you seem to make him really happy. And, I think he needs you. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“I will, I promise. I’ve waited five years, I can wait even longer.”

Rachel grinned, lifting a hand to rustle Keith’s hair. “If you hurt him, I will kill you myself, if my mom doesn’t get to you first.”

“Don’t worry,” Keith snorted, shoving her hand away with a smile. “I have no intention on hurting him. If anything, he’d me the one breaking _my_ heart,” he snickered.

“Really? Our Lance? Being a heartbreaker? I don’t buy it,” Rachel hummed suspiciously, before the expression broke and they laughed again. “Nah, I think you’ll be fine,” she assured with a final shove of Keith’s shoulder before letting her arms rest against her knees. “Lance is bound to realize his feelings eventually.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Rachel smiled once more, looking off towards her brother, who was closing the final gate and just about getting ready to walk back to the house. 

“You know, there’s a carnival that came to town a few days ago. It comes around every summer, but Lance hasn’t gone yet because he hardly leaves the house, but, tomorrow’s the last day before it moves again, so…”

“Let me guess,” Keith chuckled, looking aside at Rachel. “You want me to take Lance there.”

“Bingo. You really are as smart as they say.”

Keith scoffed amusedly, rolling his eyes as he looked back towards Lance, who was drawing ever closer. 

“Well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it,” Rachel announced to Keith as she stood up and trotted back into the house, Keith watching her walk in with a smile. 

Lance’s family really was great.

“What was that about?” Lance asked with a chuckle as he stood in front of Keith, just barely having to look down at him as he sat upon the top step on the porch. 

“Nothing much,” Keith shrugged, looking back towards Lance. “Hey, um, would you wanna… I don’t know… do something tomorrow?”

Lance quirked a brow, breathing out a soft laugh. “Depends on what that something is, Keith.”

“You’ll like it. Trust me,” Keith said with a grin. “When have I ever been wrong?”

“I can name several examples off of the top of my head, but point taken.” Lance let his eyes close as he laughed for a soft moment, the sound of his own heartbeat almost blocking out the sound of Keith’s laughter. “Sure, I’ll do something with you tomorrow,” Lance nodded.

“Perfect,” Keith said before standing up, messing up Lance’s hair for a moment. Then, with a mischievous chuckle, Keith walked up towards the door, holding it open for Lance, who didn’t pass up the opportunity to bump his arm into his while he walked inside, humming innocently while Keith shook his head.

“Goodnight Lance,” Keith hummed with a fond smile as he walked with Lance to his bedroom, the shorter male turning to give Keith a smile.

“Goodnight.”


	3. Chapter 3

“So, what you’re telling me is that Keith asked you on a date, and you’re asking me to help you get some clothes to wear because you’ve been such a hermit for the past five years and have nothing but jeans and dirty flannel?” Rachel asked that morning, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, since it was _early_ , but Lance couldn’t wait another moment, hardly catching a solid wink of sleep that night from how excited he had been.

“It’s not a _date_ , first of all, and I am not a hermit, but yeah, that’s the idea, more or less.”

“Oh boy,” Rachel sighed, leaning off of the doorway and stretching her arms up into the air, her shoulders popping. “Get ready. This is going to be an all day thing.”

“Wha—“ Lance stammered, squinting at his sister as she retreated back into her room to throw some clothes on, pulling on her jacket. “What do you mean an all day thing? Clothes shopping will not take that long!” Lance considered himself very tasteful when it came to fashion, after all.

“Oh, Lance,” Rachel cooed, patting her brother’s cheek. “You poor thing.”

“I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“When’s the last time you’ve set foot in a clothing store?”

“I—“ Lance started, only to cut himself off, his eyes widening in horror. “Oh my god.”

“Exactly,” Rachel nodded, walking out of her room and pushing Lance along with her, snatching the keys to the pickup and sauntering with Lance out of the house. 

“I am so old.”

“Twenty three going on sixty.”

“I’m hopeless.”

“Pretty much.”

“You know, you are being zero help here,” Lance grumbled, his arms folded over his chest as he climbed into the passenger seat. “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, comforting me?”

“Well, if it’s not a date, I don’t see why it matters,” Rachel hummed as she shoved the keys into the ignition, the engine roaring to life. Lance fell silent, clicking his tongue and turning his head away to gaze out of the window.

“I hate you.”

“Love you too buddy.”

***

Keith was surprised to wake up to something other than screaming that morning. The rooster’s call from the coop traveled to his ears and caused his eyes to flutter open, a gruff noise coming from his throat as he stirred, eventually giving in and sitting up, stretching his arms into the air and groaning. He felt incredibly well rested, but then again, he always felt better when he was with Lance. Even if he technically wasn’t _with_ Lance, the other male sleeping in his room while Keith took the couch. 

It was strange, not hearing any noises in the house, especially Lance’s. He liked to get up early to take care of the animals, so Keith had been expected to be woken up to help him, but that obviously wasn’t the case. It wasn’t like Lance was required to wake him up, but, you know, Keith would’ve helped if he was asked.

Especially since Keith had just asked him on a date just the previous night, to which Lance had accepted.

Was Lance avoiding him? Was it still too soon for him to be going on a date? It had been five years, but it wasn’t everyday that your girlfriend sacrificed herself to become every reality and to save the universe. If Lance didn’t want to do it, he would’ve just said no, right? He wouldn’t just leave, right?

“Yo, Earth to Keith!” 

The yell, along with the hand waving in front of Keith’s eyes that he _just_ seemed to notice pulled Keith out of his thought, blinking a few times as he came back to reality.

“Marco?” Keith laughed, leaning over the back of the couch. 

“Nice to know you’re still with us,” Marco snorted, folding his arms across his chest. “I thought we’d lost you there.”

“Sorry,” Keith chuckled. “I was just thinking.”

“About Lance?”

Keith nearly choked, clearing his throat and looking to the side with an obvious red on his cheeks.

“How could you tell?”

“You were staring off towards his room like a kicked puppy,” Marco said, snickering as he leaned against the wall. “But I’ll call it a lucky guess.”

Keith laughed, rolling his eyes and moving to throw his legs over the edge of the couch, waiting a moment or so before rising to his feet, adjusting the bottom of his shirt that Lance had forced him to wear so that he couldn’t walk around the house shirtless, even if Keith would’ve liked to do that very much. 

“Well, either way, it’s true. I was just thinking that it was weird that he didn’t wake me up to help with the animals, like he did yesterday.”

“Oh, he isn’t here,” Marco replied as if it was something that Keith should’ve just known, though the information very much threw Keith off. “He and Rachel went out into town for… something. They wouldn’t tell me what.”

“Huh,” Keith hummed, processing the information. “That’s weird.”

“Nah, if you ask me, I think it’s a good thing. Lance never leaves the house unless it’s to get something for the animals, or when it’s time to go to Altea like you all do every year,” Marco retorted with a shrug, smiling. “It’s good to get him out of the house whenever we can.”

Keith nodded, trying to stop the frown that wanted to form. Lance had been a shell of himself when Allura had first died five long years earlier. According to Lance's family (and never Lance directly, though Keith could understand why), Lance had to be forced to eat some days, often opting to lock himself in his room or to sit outside in the juniberry garden until the sun went down and someone had to drag him inside so that he couldn’t stay there all night, since they all knew he would given the opportunity. Keith could tell just how sad Lance had been before his visits by the bags under his eyes, something that felt so out of place for the smile that was always present when he was around others. And it hurt to see, not just for Keith, but for everyone around Lance, everyone who cared about him. Which was quite a substantial amount of people. How could they not care? Lance was one of the kindest, most caring, absolutely amazing individuals Keith had ever met in his life, that adoration only growing more as the years rolled by. If it was up to Keith, he would make it his personal mission to make Lance nothing but happy for the rest of his life.

“Keith, you’re zoning out on me again.”

“Marco?” Keith chimed up suddenly, looking Lance’s brother in the eyes with a determination that he didn’t even know he had. “I may or may not have asked your brother out on a date last night.”

Marco blinked, silence falling between the two men for a moment before Marco let out a long, frustrated groan.

“You’re kidding me,” he sighed, his head hanging in defeat. “I owe Luis so much money now.”

“Excuse me?” Keith asked, raising a brow and letting out a confused laugh.

“You’re so obviously into my little brother, but I never thought you’d actually, you know, ask him out!” He continued, and Keith still wasn’t any less confused than he was before. 

“How does a bet that involves money play into this?” Keith asked again, an amused grin tugging at his mouth as he chuckled. 

“Well Luis kept going on and on with his annoying ‘love always finds a way’ spiel that he always has, and I wanted to shut him up, and now I owe him two hundred bucks.”

“Did I just hear what I think I heard?” 

“Luis, no—“

“Keith actually did it?” 

Keith had to be honest, it wasn’t every day that he heard a grown man with a wife and two kids squeal like a little girl getting a doll for Christmas. Today was just one of those special days.

“Yup,” Keith hummed towards Lance’s eldest brother, smirking confidently with his arms folded over his chest. “I did it. And Lance actually said yes.”

“This is the best day of my life,” Luis beamed, before quickly quieting down and speaking again. “Don’t tell my wife.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Now, Keith, I’m gonna tell you exactly how you’re gonna woo my brother,” Luis spoke, walking up to Keith and gripping him by the shoulders. “If he isn’t in love with you already, he will be by the end of the night.”

Needless to say, Keith was intrigued.

***

“Lance, you have a billion jackets that look just liked this,” Rachel sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose as Lance looked through a rack of blue jackets, some crapped and others not, some decorated with white and grey accents while others were plain blue. “Shouldn’t you spice things up a little?”

“Why would I do that?” Lance asked, almost offended at the very notion. “Blue is my _color_.”

“That’s it,” Rachel decided, pulling her phone from her pocket. “I’m calling Veronica and we’re gonna make sure you leave this place with something that isn’t blue.”

“What?” Lance whined, groaning as he tilted his head back. “But blue brings out my eyes!”

“Don’t care,” his sister retorted, dialing Veronica’s contact and holding the phone to her ear as it rang. “Literally everything you own is blue. You’re gonna switch it up a bit, or I’m gonna murder you.”

“That’s a little unnecessary, but point taken.”

Rachel held the phone up to her ear, the line ringing a few times before there was an answer on the other end, some background noise coming through while Veronica spoke. 

“Hey, Veronica,” Rachel spoke, Lance huffing our a breath and crossing his arms, because they did not need to get their sister down there as well. “Yeah, Lance and I are at the store right now shopping for clothes for Lance’s date with Keith tonig—“

There was a sudden loud noise that even Lance could hear over the receiver, and Rachel even had to hold the phone away from her face for a moment as to not go deaf.

“Yeah, a date. And with _Keith_ ,” Rachel repeated, and Lance was too occupied with trying to figure out what was even going on rather than correcting Rachel. 

This wasn’t a _date_ , right? Keith was just his friend who happened to visit him a lot, and Lance cares very deeply for him, and you know, now that he was thinking about it, he had always wondered what Keith’s lips felt like.

But they were just friends.

Just. Friends.

“Yeah, Marco lost. I wonder if Luis knows yet,” Rachel continued, and Lance remembered that they were out in public, shaking those thoughts from his head before they could derail into something that Lance couldn’t suppress. “Alright, see you soon.”

“I can’t believe you guys,” Lance complained, though he couldn’t help but smile, just slightly. “Did they seriously bet on this?”

“Oh yeah, that happened years ago,” Rachel snickered, taking Lance’s arm and pulling him away from the blue clothes he had been staring at for a while now. “Probably after Keith’s second visit here, I think. It’s so obvious that he’s into you, you’re the only one that hasn’t noticed it.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Lance laughed, rolling his eyes. “Keith totally has a thing for me. That’s funny.” Lance shook his head softly, completely dismissing the thought from his mind.

But then he started thinking about it. And suddenly, the idea of Keith having feelings for him was growing more and more appealing.

“...He is?”

“Yes!” Rachel exclaimed, and it was almost a groan. “He is _so_ into you! You should see the way he looks at you!”

Lance felt a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, his heart leaping in his chest while a reddish color sprouted across his cheeks.

Keith liked him.

 _Like liked_ him.

“Do _you_?” Rachel asked, in a soft, quiet tone, accompanied with a gentle hand to Lance’s shoulders.

“I…” Lance trailed off, thinking over everything he’d ever felt, which hurt his head a little. Though, fond feelings towards Keith were not hard to find, decorating his memory over the past several years, each visit getting Lance happier than the next, all because of Keith’s presence. Keith was there for him, always had been. And, if Lance was being honest, that fondness hadn’t just started since they’d returned to earth for good. “I do.”

And it felt so right to say.

Rachel smiled brightly, giving Lance’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“In that case, you’ve got a date to get ready for.”

***

The McClain household was bustling quite early, Sylvio and Nadia dragging Keith from the house to collect an array of flowers to arrange into a bouquet to give to Lance, Keith strategically avoiding the juniberries, because, as Luis told him;

“Giving Lance his dead girlfriend’s favorite type of flower could be the dumbest thing you could possibly do.”

Meanwhile, Luis helped Keith in the outfit department, lending him a jacket that he had worn on a date with his wife, Lisa.

“Don’t get me wrong, I _love_ the encouragement and help here, but…” Keith trailed off, looking at the jacket and chewing his lip. “Don’t you have anything in red?”

“Blue is Lance’s favorite color. So, by association, you wearing his favorite color will make him more attracted to you. Trust me, I know Lance. He has some weird fixation for that color, almost everything he owns is some shade of blue.”

Keith chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, sliding the jacket on and looking at himself in the mirror.

“That’s… actually not so bad.”

“See!” Luis exclaimed, smiling proudly and flashing his teeth. “What did I say?”

The jacket fit a little snug around his arms, but even still, Keith didn’t hate it. If anything, the tighter fit only showed off the muscles on his arms, which he was quite proud of, and he definitely wouldn’t mind showing off for Lance.

“Keith,” Carmen chimed up, immediately getting both her son and Keith’s attention, and Luis knew what was about to go down, giving Keith a supportive pat on the back. 

“Good luck,” Luis whispered before walking away, opting to leave the house to both join his children outside and to escape his mother.

“I heard you were taking Lance out on a date tonight,” she spoke, and Keith fervently nodded.

“Yes, ma’am, I am. If that’s alright with you, of course,” Keith confirmed, grinning sheepishly.

Carmen was such a sweet looking woman, but my god, was she intimidating.

“Of course it’s alright with me,” Carmen nodded, laughing softly. “We’ve been rooting for this for years! But, just so you know,” she paused, leaning forward to stare up into Keith’s eyes. “If you do anything that hurts my son in any way, shape, or form, I can promise the fury of a thousand suns that will rain upon you.”

Keith swallowed thickly, mentally regaining his composure while he nodded. He was strong, confident. He could do this.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he assured, smiling. “Lance means so much to me, I’d never do anything to hurt him, I promise.”

It wasn’t too hard to convince Lance’s mother of his sincerity, because it was all true. Keith cared so much for Lance that it hurt. He’d felt this way for years now, and nothing could ever change that in his mind. Lance deserved to be treated like the best thing that had ever happened to the universe, and Keith was willing to do that for him. Keith was more than willing, actually. Nothing else mattered to him the way Lance did.

“Lance picked good with you,” Carmen gushed, pinching Keith’s cheek in an affectionate manner. “Make him happy for me.”

“With pleasure.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not gonna lie,,,, i almost cried writing this

“This is torturous.”

They had been there for hours, Rachel grabbing everything she could find to have Lance try on, and that only got more hectic once Veronica arrived, just as eager as Rachel.

“Oh, don’t be such a baby,” Veronica snorted, shoving another jacket into Lance’s arms. “Do you want to look good or not?” 

“Of course I do!” Lance retorted, hating how his voice sounded a bit whiny, but it should’ve been obvious. Of course Lance wanted to look good on his first date with Keith! That was very important.

“Then shut up and try these on,” Rachel interjected, dropping another few articles of clothing into Lance’s arms, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him off towards the dressing room.

“We’re good sisters,” Veronica hummed, Rachel giving a nod.

“The best.”

Lance grumbled as he walked into the dressing room, kicking the door closed behind him. He threw the clothes up onto the hangers which were mounted onto the door, huffing out an annoyed breath as he undressed once again, his muscles actually feeling a bit tight from the constant dressing and undressing he had done over the past few hours. He slipped on the jeans first, and from what he could tell, there was nothing obviously special about them. Just normal blue jeans. Not that Lance was complaining, he had been meaning to get a few new pairs anyway. Next was the shirt, and Lance couldn’t lie, it was definitely a look. 

The shirt was nothing special on its own — a simple black top with sleeves that ended just above his elbows, a simple ‘u’ shaped collar that came down just enough to show off a bit of his defined collarbone. The fabric was tight fitting, amplifying his muscles, and if Lance was seeing himself correctly in the mirror, the outline of his toned stomach could he seen through the shirt. 

And, even if Lance had humbled over the past five years, he could easily say that he looked good. More than good, actually. Some might even say, hot. Fine. Handsome. Dashing. Sexy.

Whatever the word to describe it was, Lance felt good.

Then came the jacket, and Lance was a bit apprehensive at first. Leather wasn’t really his style, it much better suited Keith and whatever punk aesthetic he had going on, but hey, it couldn’t hurt to try, right?

And boy was Lance glad he did.

“So?” Lance hummed, smiling sheepishly as he stepped out of the dressing room, both of his sisters looking at him. “What do you guys think?”

Both Veronica and Rachel fell silent, blinking and occasionally exchanging glances between one another, until:

“It’s perfect.”

***

“Nope, you’re not allowed to see him until it’s time!” Rachel insisted as she stood her ground in front of Lance’s door, Keith both annoyed and perplexed.

“Why? We’re not getting married, I just haven’t even gotten to see him all day!” Keith retorted, huffing at the crack in his voice that he was annoyed about having not gone away when he entered his mid-twenties. 

“Doesn’t matter, you’ll see him tonight, now go,” Rachel snapped right back, pointing her finger away from Lance’s room and, with a disgruntled noise, Keith turned away and walked back onto the porch, sulking with Kosmo. 

Lance snickered from the other side of the door, shaking his head softly as he dried himself off. God, he forgot how tired shopping made him. Maybe he could sneak in a little nap while he waited for time to pass so he could get ready…

“I’ve earned this.”

Lance skipped happily to his bed, crawling beneath the blankets with a content hum. He wrapped his arms around one of the pillows, hugging it close to his body. Before he could focus on sleep, Lance made sure that he had an alarm set to make sure that he didn’t oversleep, because that was the last thing he needed right now. Once everything was settled, Lance breathed out a sigh of relief and let his eyes flutter shut, his brain finally quieting down for even a brief moment as sleep slowly washed over him. 

At least, it was silent until he actually fell asleep.

_Lance._

It was a voice that Lance knew. Familiar, warm, inviting, but distant. Lance couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

 _Lance,_ the voice said again, a little louder this time. Closer. _Can you hear me?_

Lance sat up suddenly, but when his eyes opened, he wasn’t in his bed. He wasn’t even in his room. Actually, Lance didn’t know where he was. The world around him was gone, nothing but a white glow surrounding him, nothingness in every angle, every direction. He caught his breath, blinking his eyes and looking around.

“Who said that?” He called out, his voice echoing in no specific direction.

_You mean you don’t recognize me?_ The voice said back, and Lance’s eyes widened as the figure formed in front of him out of thin air.

It was a face he never expected to see again. 

“Allura.”

 _Hello, Lance,_ she hummed, smiling sweetly as she moved to kneel in front of him.

“I—“ he stammered, his voice wavering before he swallowed and cleared his throat. “I don’t— how are you—“

 _I wouldn’t think about it too much,_ she interjected with a soft laugh, cocking her head slightly. Which, was probably a good idea in retrospect. Though, he was too overcome with emotion from seeing Allura in the first place to really be able to focus on anything else. _How have you been?_

Alright, so this was weird. Lance’s mind was playing tricks on him, which was such a dickish move. He was going on a date in just hours, Why was Allura coming to him now? And was this even real? No, it couldn’t be.

“I…” Lance trailed off, trying to blink his shock away. “I’ve been… okay.”

 _Okay?_ Allura repeated, quirking a brow. _What’s troubling you?_

That was a question that Lance wasn’t sure he could answer.

“What’s troubling me?” Lance asked again, breathing out a chuckle. “It’s— it’s nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m good.”

Allura smiled and laughed at that, her voice booming, as if she was surrounding him on all sides. _You don’t have to answer,_ she said, reaching to take one of Lance’s hands in her own, and Lance noticed the ethereal glow she had to her. _I already know._

Lance cracked a smile at that, because of course she did. Lance had never been the best at hiding his emotions, and Allura was far from stupid. He glanced down at their hands, biting his lip softly.

“Allura, I need to know,” Lance mumbled, looking back up at her, his brows pulled slightly in concern. “Am I doing the right thing?”

_What do you mean?_

“Should I…” Oh boy, this was proving to be more difficult to say than he anticipated. “Is going out with Keith… really a good idea?”

He hadn’t realized it, but the thought had been plaguing him for a while now. Maybe it was the fact that Lance had sort of been in denial about his feelings, or maybe it was simply because he didn’t notice, but either way, he was conflicted. Did he want to be with Keith? Yes, of course he did. But he wasn’t sure if he would do something to screw it up, or god forbid something happened to Keith on a mission.

Lance couldn’t handle being left alone again.

 _Oh, Lance,_ Allura sighed, smiling softly. _I love you, and I know you feel the same, but it’s time. You have someone that really cares for you. You know what you want, now it’s time to get what you need._

Lance fell silent, worrying on his lip a little more as he mulled everything over. It was a lot to handle right now. A lot to take in. He cared about Keith, so much. And something told him that he had felt that way for a while. And yet, Lance was still uncertain of the future.

It was scary. The change was scary.

 _You know I’m right,_ Allura snickered, smiling brightly with knowing eyes. 

“I know,” Lance sighed, forced to smile as well, because how could he not. “And I hate it.”

Allura laughed, pulling her hand away from Lance’s to open her arms wide instead, silently inviting Lance in for a hug, which he was more than willing to take. They wrapped their arms around each other, Lance burying his face in Allura’s neck, while she rested her chin on Lance’s shoulder, hands soothing along his back.

__

__

_I’m glad I got to see you again,_ Allura whispered, Lance responding by holding on a little tighter. 

He didn’t want to let go yet. He didn’t want to be left alone again.

Though… he wouldn’t really be alone, would he?

“Me too,” Lance muttered, his eyes opened slightly. He didn’t want to blink and Allura be gone. “I miss you.”

 _As do I._ Allura pulled her head away slightly, gazing down at Lance with glossy eyes and a fond smile, those bright pink markings on her cheeks glowing bright. _But, I’m afraid that it’s time to move on, Lance. I’ll always be with you, watching over you. But you deserve to be happy. You deserve it more than anyone in the world._

“You think so?” Lance asked, holding back tears as he grinned.

 _I know so,_ Allura nodded, a grin tugging at her lips as well. _And, if Keith even thinks about hurting you, I’ll kill him._

Lance snorted and laughed, shaking his head softly while Allura pulled him close once more, a silence falling over the two for a moment, Allura’s gentle hands slowly tracing circles and intricate designs along Lance’s back, while Lance squeezed her tightly, as if she would float away if he loosened his grip. And then:

_Goodbye._

His eyes opened again.

This time, he awoke in his bed, his alarm ringing incessantly. He groaned and turned over onto his back, lifting his hand to turn his alarm off with a whine. The sun was setting, a golden wash seeping in through the bedroom windows, kissing Lance’s skin as he sat up and stretched, the sleep melting from his muscles easily. He turned his head to look out of one of the windows, and there, high up, was a single star. Brilliant and beautiful and bright, twinkling among a sky of yellows and pinks and oranges blended together like oil paint on a canvas. Lance smiled softly, gently rubbing over the hand that felt as though someone had touched and caressed, his body light and floating with tranquility.

He was at peace.

“Thank you, Allura,” he whispered, and he swore he could see the star glow brighter, as if it was answering back to him from light years away.

_It’s time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the italic text was allura, just in case any of y’all couldnt tell

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, leaving a Kudos, comment, or bookmarking this would be greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoyed, and until next time!!!


End file.
